The Power of Friendship
by DangoCorn
Summary: After Robin announces her wish to live, her nakama fight for her return. And although they succeed, trouble slowly creeps upon them once more. And this time, it isn't Robin that needs the crew's help. It's Zoro.
1. An Unfriendly Wind

**Hiii guys 8D!**

**So, this event happens before they go to Thriller Bark. I'm gonna start off the story with what happened to Robin in Enies Lobby, and then get into the main plot. This chapter is from Robin's POV. And there will be a bit of ZoRobin throughout the story c:!**

**Kk, here we go!**

**(Oh, and I don't own the display picture. Credits go to whoever drew it, it's amazing!).**

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><p><em>I've made the mistake of dropping my guard long enough to start getting comfortable around them. It would be selfish of me to stay any longer. I can't drag them down with me and get them involved in my past. Besides...they would eventually abandon me, wouldn't they?<em>

_I don't think I have the strength to go through something like that again. It has happened to me too many times throughout my life._

_It frightens me._

_As for the strange feelings that have begun forming and slowly developing inside of me towards one of my naka…crewmembers, they will have to be ignored. Forgotten. It's quite dumb of me to even consider such feelings. I'm a 28-year-old woman whose life has been filled with lying, killing, and running away. A woman with a dream that could never be achieved with such a life._

_Although, in his case, he is a loyal right-hand man to a fun, caring captain. He has a dream I'm certain he'd be able to achieve. The few things he's ever done for me, and that I think a lot of, were only done to honor Luffy's decision to have me on the crew. He would have done the same things for any other member of the crew. It's silly of me to think otherwise._

_I was walking through the town of Water 7 with the crew's doctor, when a large person wearing a white and orange checkered cloak with a mask to cover his face walked past me._

_"Cp9," he whispered. I stopped in my tracks, my entire body turning completely stiff._

_"I'm going in, Robin!" Chopper called out. I stared at the ground until I pulled myself together and looked back. He had disappeared._

_…..._

_"Robin!" Chopper and Sanji stood on the other side of the small waterway._

_"Robin-chan, at last!" Sanji exclaimed. I gave them an irritated expression._

_"I won't be staying with you," I told them._

_"Huh? What do you mean?" Chopper asked, his happiness turning to concern._

_I took a few breaths and looked straight into their eyes. "There is a darkness in my heart that will engulf you all if I stay any longer," I told them, trying to maintain a cold look. Sanji let out a nervous laugh._

_"Robin-chan, everything will be fine. Just come back with us," he said. Chopper looked at me worriedly._

_"This is where we'll be parting ways," I declared, turning around._

_"No! Robin, wait!" Chopper yelled. I started walking away, misery beginning to take over me._

_…..._

_"We had a deal!" I yelled._

_"Indeed. And that was to not hurt them while they were in Water 7. We're not there anymore, now are we, Miss Nico Robin?" Lucci answered. I didn't want their help. Why did they have to follow me?! Couldn't they respect my wishes?!_

_…..._

_I stood quietly on the edge of the building, beside me the Cp9 members. All the crew members stood across from where we were, looking up at me with determined expressions. Couldn't they just leave? The worst possible scenario would be their deaths. Then all this would've been for absolutely nothing. I gritted my teeth._

_"I WANT TO DIE!" I yelled. Luffy looked taken aback._

_"Then express what you want here, with us! Not with them up there!" he answered._

_"Can't you see I don't want any of you here? Leave!" I shrieked. I swallowed hard. "I'm afraid…I'm afraid of you abandoning me! You'll eventually find out how dangerous it is for me to be near you, and that'll be the end. That's what I fear most!"_

_Everyone fell silent. I saw Luffy mouth something to Usopp-Sogeking. He then lifted his big, strange slingshot and shot down the flag representing the World Government._

_"No way…" I said, staring at the burning flag. Spandam, the sick pink-haired man, freaked out._

_"Do you realize what you've done?!" he yelled. "You've declared war against the entire world! You'll never make it!"_

_"YOU WANNA BET?!" Luffy shouted back at him. He then turned his gaze to me. "Robin. I still haven't heard it from your own mouth."_

_"Say you want to live!" he told me._

_To… live._

_I thought wishing for it was forbidden._

_I've always been told that my existence itself was a sin. Ever since I was a child, I have had an incredible bounty on my head. Tears began streaming down my cheeks. And why is that?_

_For surviving. For knowing how to read a certain language. So that they could get their hands on the most powerful weapon in existence._

_So even if it was just this once…if I can express my wish… then I…_

_I breathed in deeply and said it._

_"I WANT TO LIVE!" I cried out, surprised that my voice wasn't quivering. "TAKE ME OUT TO THE SEA WITH YOU!"_

_…..._

_"You won't be saved," Spandam spat, dragging me by my hair. "Filthy woman."_

_I was determined to stall and give everyone as much time as possible. I didn't walk, I let him drag me. I tried freeing myself from him, but the sea stone made me much weaker._

_We were getting close to the gate of justice when I finally got away from him and ran to the edge of the wall. I knew running away would be useless, so I let myself fall and I bit onto the concrete wall. I felt blood trickle down my chin. Spandam grabbed me and pulled, which only made it worse. He began to laugh._

_"Crying? You're crying?" he bellowed. "You're crying because it hurts so much, huh?!"_

_I will live._

_…..._

_"Come on, come on!" Franky yelled as he tried one key after the other, trying to free me from the handcuffs. He got to the fifth one and it finally worked. The handcuffs fell off and I looked at my hands, feeling a rush of relief. I could fight by their side now._

_…..._

_I was hearing a strange sound. It wasn't a voice exactly, but it sent a chill through my body. It sounded like a creature of the sea. I concentrated more on it until I finally understood._

_"Look below," the voice was saying. I glanced around at my nakama and found that they had flustered expressions on their faces, and guessed that they were able to hear it as well._

_"JUMP INTO THE OCEAN!" Usopp suddenly yelled. We stared at him silently._

_"Are you stupid?! You'd get yourself killed!" Zoro pointed out._

_"We'll be fine…we'll be fine!" Usopp said, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Robin, can you get Luffy into the water?"_

_I nodded and crossed my arms. After his fight against Lucci, he wasn't able to move. His body was exhausted. Arms bloomed from the ground beneath Luffy and lifted him. I made a row of arms leading to the edge of the building and began rolling him away, then threw him into the ocean._

_"Follow Luffy!" Usopp cried out. I smiled and did as I was told. Everyone jumped off. I splashed into the water, and I can't say it felt very good. Kokoro, the blonde old woman, happened to be a mermaid. Although I was focusing on holding my breath in the water, I couldn't help but smile. She had Chopper and Luffy in one hand and ended up grabbing me as well and throwing us all out of the sea._

_"ROBIN-CHWAN, COME INTO MY ARMS!" I heard Sanji say, but I ended up being caught by Franky. He carefully set me down onto the deck. Luffy coughed hysterically but soon the coughs turned into laughter._

_"Phew, that was close! Robin, thank-"_

_I sprouted an arm from his shoulder and clapped my hand onto his mouth, then slowly got up, as I had been sitting down to rest._

_"Luffy," I began, then looked at everyone on board. "Everyone. Thank you!"_

_They all gave me warm smiles.._

_"Don't mention it," Luffy answered humbly, a grin spreading across his face._

_"Leave this dumb talk for later, we need to get out of here," Zoro said coldly._  
><em>"OI, MARIMO! IT'S NOT DUMB, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" Sanji yelled, throwing a kick at Zoro.<em>

_"YEAH, MARIMO!" Chopper joined in, biting Zoro's leg._

_"IT'S BETTER FOR US TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE FIRST, DON'T YOU THINK?!" Zoro yelled back, trying to shake Chopper off. He then calmed down and looked down at Chopper. "Oi, Chopper," he said. "You can move now."_

_Chopper's angry eyes turned calm and he let go of Zoro's leg. "Oh, right…I can!"_

_He turned into his human form and held Zoro down. "NOW APOLOGIZE TO ROBIN!"_

_I chuckled at their behavior. It was quite entertaining. I wasn't offended in any kind of way though, it was a very typical thing of Zoro to say._

_…..._

_Spandam was trying to shoot down Merry but all his attempts were failing. I walked to the railing and looked up at him. His face was swollen and beaten up. I crossed my arms and sprouted them from all over his body. I then closed my eyes, remembering the way he'd treated me. The way he'd thrown me onto the ground and had carelessly stepped on my face. The way he laughed. I controlled my arms to bend his back. I kept bending until I heard a loud snap._

_Farewell, Spandam._

* * *

><p>We landed on a small island that was uninhabited and warm, with a forest consisting of very tall, thin trees. We docked Sunny and jumped off, landing into very thick sand.<p>

"It got in my shoes!" Usopp wailed. Minus Luffy and Chopper, the crew and I took our time emptying our footwear. I glanced at Zoro, as I do many times, and noticed him wearing a worried look. I frowned, but decided not to say anything. I rarely took the initiative to start a conversation with him to begin with. Once everyone's shoes were sand-free, we walked into the forest. Sanji and Franky were the only ones to stay on the ship.

A few times, I noticed Zoro grab his katana, grit his teeth, then let go. And although Luffy was still having a good time with his playmates: Chopper and Usopp, I could still see a concerned look on his face as well. I suddenly felt a rush of wind against my neck and I paused. It didn't feel like a very friendly wind to me. I straightened my back and followed the crew deeper into the forest. There was something strange about the island: I could sense a presence. Although I glanced around me every now and then, I was able to see nothing. It was quite unnerving.

After exploring the island a bit further and collecting fruits, we started heading back to the ship. I felt the rush of wind many more times, but decided to ignore it. We were only staying long enough for the log pose to set, and according to Nami, it would take no longer than a week. Once we arrived at the coast, I could feel the presence even more powerfully.

"What the…" Usopp whispered. We stopped in our tracks and looked at him. He had been walking quite quickly to the ship and was ahead of us, but had suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Nami asked. He scratched the back of his neck, then shook his head.

"Ah, nothing," he replied. But when he tried walking again, he was unable to.

"Alright, it wasn't my imagination. There's something stopping me."

I cocked my eyebrow and walked over to him. Sure enough, when I tried getting closer to our ship, I could feel some kind of barrier that wouldn't let me pass. Out of the blue, I felt extremely tired.

"Woah, what the heck!" Luffy cried. "Heh! I'LL JUST PUNCH A HOLE IN IT!"

He grabbed his right shoulder and began to swing his arm. When he threw the punch, his arm didn't stretch. We blinked a few times, staring at him.

He looked just as confused as we were. "Eh?!" he exclaimed, staring at his arm. "Why can't I stretch?!"

I crossed my arms and tried sprouting an arm from the sand. I wasn't able to use my powers either. Zoro unsheathed his swords and tried slicing the barrier, but with no success. We were imprisoned.

"This is really bad," Nami whimpered, breathing heavily. The tiredness had taken over me, and I let myself fall to the ground. Luffy and Chopper looked dazed as well.

"I'm sleepyyy," Luffy said, immediately dozing off, with Chopper draped over his stomach. I was struggling to stay awake, and I felt very weak, as if my strength had been sucked out of me.

"Oi, guys," Usopp whispered, poking me and shaking Luffy. "What's the matter?"

Nami banged her fists against the barrier, calling out to Sanji and Franky.

I finally let myself fall asleep.

Once I woke up, I found everyone else knocked out. Zoro was the only one who wasn't there. I stood and grabbed the bag of things I had brought, and headed into the forest. Something inside me told me it was the right thing to do, even though without my powers my defense had decreased drastically. There was a wind that seemed to be strengthening the deeper I went into the forest. I started hearing the sound of moving water. The feeling of exhaustion was still very strong but I was able to finally get to a river. It was nighttime, and I wasn't able to see very well, but I could make out a person standing on the other side of the water. I saw something glinting. It was Zoro's earrings, reflecting the moonlight. He stood very still, his arm resting on his precious katana. There was a very calm expression on his face.

"Zoro," I called out. He didn't answer me. I walked closer to the river but was welcomed by yet another barrier. My eyes widened. I wasn't able to get to him.

The silence was worrying me. Out of habit, I crossed my arms to try to sprout a few arms from him, but wasn't able to.

"Zoro!" I called out louder. He finally looked at me. For some reason, I got the feeling he wasn't able to hear what I was saying. He then closed his eyes and gave me a reassuring smile.

A light began to form from the ground Zoro was standing on. I dropped my bag, staring at him. The smile remained on his face. I considered calling over the rest of the crew, but I'd been walking for more than an hour to get there, and it would do no good to turn back at that point.

Something began to happen to Zoro. The muscles he'd been strengthening throughout his life were beginning to shrink. His arms and legs became thinner, including his neck. I felt utterly helpless.

"Zoro, get back here," I shouted. I didn't know what was going on, and it felt frustrating. I had read books about this island, and they said nothing about a barrier. They said nothing about a powerful source that deprived you of your strength.

I had placed my hands on the barrier, and once the light faded, the barrier was gone. I was close to falling into the river but managed to regain my balance. Zoro was still standing, but he looked limp. I saw him taking a deep breath and letting it out. Opening his eyes, he walked into the river and swam towards me. But he was struggling.

As soon as he reached the other side, I felt my strength return to me. I hurried over to him and bent down. He wasn't moving.


	2. Concern

**Hello ;D!**

**Thank you guys for all the reviews/faves/followers c: I'm glad the story seems to be appealing!**

**So, someone reviewed and seemed a bit confused as to why I put the events in Water 7 and Enies Lobby there. I guess it is kind of confusing, sorry about that! And honestly, I'm not that sure if it'll have direct connection with the main plot, but for some reason I felt like putting it. I suppose you could say it's as a reminder of how Robin became closer to the crew, and the plot will be about the friendships between them. And not to mention the fact that she started to realize she had feelings for Zoro before the event in Enies Lobby.**

**I put the Enies Lobby event in Italics so hopefully that'll make things less confusing.**

**I hope things are a bit clearer now 8D!**

* * *

><p>Zoro's chin rested on my shoulder as I grasped his wrists and had a couple of my arms sprout from the ground to help me support him. After Zoro lost his strength, I was somehow able to use my powers again. And now I was carrying him on my back. The handles of my bag were placed between my teeth. It wasn't too heavy, so it didn't give me a very hard time. Never had I tried carrying any of my crewmates other than Chopper, but I could tell that Zoro had lost a great deal of weight. He had turned so fragile.<p>

I knew that if he had been awake, he would never have let me carry him, and he would have pushed himself to walk. For now, it was probably good that he was unconscious. After finally returning to the beach, where the crew was sleeping, I set him down near Chopper and covered him. I felt much better after regaining my strength, and I had an idea why I was able to use my powers again.

Wasting no time, I made my way back into the forest. I had my fingers crossed that I would find a poneglyph that could explain the incident. Following my instincts, I went back to the river and managed to cross it by finding a big log. I used extra arms to place it properly so that it could work as a bridge. It was quite wobbly, but I was able to get to the other side without getting wet.

I scanned the trees in front of me and decided on a direction. Zoro had sacrificed his strength, and from what I understood, it was to bring back the powers and strength that some of us had lost. I also suspected the disappearance of the barrier that had held us back from getting off the island, since the barrier that had prevented me from getting to Zoro back at the river was gone when he lost his strength. I knew that he would've preferred none of us to find out. But it would be very difficult to hide it from the rest of the crew, and I believed they wouldn't let him be after seeing how fragile he'd become overnight.

After walking for what seemed like hours, I finally caught sight of a big rock not too far ahead of me. The sun started to rise. I sped up and sure enough, there was a poneglyph covered with vines, some dead and some alive. Despite the situation, I did feel quite glad I'd found one. Not only because of my search for the real history, but for the sake of Zoro. I placed my bag down and sat in front of the rock, studying it carefully.

I had to sprout an arm to remove the vines from the rock so that I could read it all. My theory turned out to be correct, but naturally with more details. From what I read, the island possessed some sort of spirit within it. The spirit craved power, and could sense the strongest of the people who step onto the island. It would place a barrier around the island to trap whoever came there.

Somehow, this spirit gives a message to the strongest one there about the sacrifice needed to be able to remove the barrier. But for some strange reason, it doesn't accept a sacrifice from a devil fruit user. The only information the poneglyph gave me about the reason was that devil fruit users aren't pure. And that was the reason why it had chosen Zoro, I thought.

I closed my eyes. Although I now knew what the cause of this was, I had no idea what we could do to bring back Zoro's strength. All the training and hard work he'd done suddenly vanished. It was unfair.

I felt the rush of wind against my neck again, and I shuddered. Picking up my bag, I started heading back. They would notice I wasn't there.

By the time I returned, the sun had risen completely, and they were up. They were up and very frustrated, especially Luffy. Everyone was standing around Zoro, who was also awake.

"Oi, Zoro!" Luffy yelled. "What happened to you?"

Zoro sat cross-legged and said nothing.

"OI!" Luffy had a very fierce and worried look on his face.

"Zoro, why are your arms like that?" Chopper whimpered quietly. "And where's Robin?"

I walked closer to where they were. "I'm here."

They all turned to me, their eyes asking if I knew anything. I took a deep breath and turned my gaze to Zoro. He was looking straight at me. I knew very well he didn't want me to say anything, and I never would have if it wasn't going to make a difference. But I believed telling them would be the right choice, since together we could try to find a solution.

I put my bag down and settled. "I went to look for a poneglyph."

After telling them what I had found out, Luffy looked even more horrified. As a reminder, I repeated that devil fruit users couldn't make the sacrifice, so that he could know it wouldn't have been possible for him to have done it.

"We could have crushed the barrier or something, right?! Or if Sanji and Franky had found out, they would've blasted the barrier with a bomb from Sunny. Anything!" Luffy yelled.

"Oh my God," Nami whispered to herself. "But…now…"

"What… are we gonna do?" Usopp asked quietly.

"Kick the stupid spirit's ass, that's what!" Luffy announced as he pushed his hat onto his head and headed into the forest. He was stopped by Zoro.

"Luffy," Zoro said, "stop."

"Heck no!" Luffy cried out. "I'm not leaving until you get your strength back! And I'm not gonna watch you train for getting it back all over again just because of some greedy…DUMB…THING!"

I got up and walked over to him. "Luffy."

He looked at me with angry and almost pleading eyes. "This time, I don't think kicking ass is going to work."

Luffy heaved a long sigh and pouted. "But look at Zoro! All his muscles…"

I knew Luffy must've felt very protective and angry, even more so than the others, since he was the captain. But I couldn't say that I didn't feel angry at the situation as well. I wanted to help Zoro just as much, but I didn't think it would be wise to rush into it.

We walked back towards the sea and indeed, the barrier was gone. Sanji and Franky were still asleep and we had to wake them up.

"Robin-chwaaan," Sanji whispered before yawning and sitting up.

Zoro had gone straight to the crow's nest, and I assumed it was to avoid Sanji and Franky's comments. He probably knew he couldn't get away from them forever, but perhaps he wanted some quiet for the time being.

"Breakfast, Mosshead!" Sanji called out to Zoro, but heard no reply. "Oi!"

After a few more calls, he finally came down. Sanji's angry and annoyed expression immediately turned into shock.

"Oi, Marimo," he said, taking his cigarette out of his mouth. "What's up with you?"

"I was sleeping, you have a problem with that?" Zoro replied, dodging the question and walking into the kitchen. We heard Franky cry out loudly when Zoro entered. I sighed. It must've been pretty obnoxious, getting such reactions. It wasn't as if he couldn't move anymore. I was never able to imagine Zoro without his buffiness and strength, but this is exactly what we were all seeing now.

"Robin-chan, what the hell happened to him?" Sanji asked, staring at the kitchen door.

I explained briefly.

"Dammit," I heard him whisper to himself. "If I'd gone with you guys…maybe…"

I put my hand on Sanji's shoulder, which made him wiggle in delight despite himself.

"What we need to focus on now is how to recover what he lost," I said. "I don't believe those thoughts are going to do any good. What happened happened, and that's that."

He nodded and lit another cigarette before slowly making his way into the kitchen. I followed him and sat beside Nami, who was staring at her food, blinking hard. I could tell everyone was trying to be considerate and not stare at Zoro.

"I have to give you a checkup," Chopper told him. "This is too weird."

"I'm fine," Zoro said, digging into his share of food. "And why aren't you guys eating?"

Not even Luffy, the biggest eater among us, had touched his food. Slowly, as if we'd realized we weren't eating and instead losing ourselves in thought, we began to eat. Luffy started politely, which was a surprise, but not too much time had passed before he began to dig in the way he usually did. After that, the crew seemed to relax a bit.

"Thanks, Sanji! AWESOME FOOD AS USUAL!" Luffy bellowed, letting out a slight laugh, which to me sounded a bit nervous. Sanji nodded at him and began to clear off the table.

As soon as everyone filed out of the kitchen, I walked to the counters and made myself a cup of coffee, then headed to our ship's library. I thought that perhaps I had missed something from the books I'd read about the island, and wanted to go through them again. We still had a little less than a week to figure it out.

I began to scan the shelves, taking out books one by one and stacking them on the table. Once I found them all, I settled on a chair and began to go through them. The door of the library creaked open.

"Robin?" It was Nami. She stepped in and closed the door after her. "Any luck finding anything?"

"Not yet," I told her.

"Oh," she simply said, sitting beside me. "This is crazy, Robin! Everyone on this crew is too reckless…I mean, maybe Usopp and I aren't the strongest, but we might've been able to give part of our strength to that…spirit thing! Couldn't we have done it together? It's not fair that he lost it all. He's been working on it all this life to achieve his goal!"

"I don't know if that would've been possible," I said. "But Zoro would've never asked that of any of you. He took the burden on himself, and unless you had been awake, there wouldn't have been a way to stop him."

Nami groaned. "We're nakama, we help each other! Geez…he had to go and do it alone…"

I shut the last book and set it back on the table. There was nothing about a way to bring back his strength. It made me feel as if there was absolutely no way, but I knew we couldn't let it go yet. There could be something helpful on the island.

We walked out of the library and onto the deck. There was no one there except Luffy, who was sitting quietly on Sunny's head. I walked into the infirmary to see if Chopper was there. He was giving Zoro a checkup.

"Oh, hi Robin," Chopper said, hopping off his little stool and getting a syringe.

"Oi, I said I was fine," Zoro protested. "It's not like I'm sick or hurt."

"I know, but for your body to go through such a change so quickly isn't good for you," Chopper replied. "I just want to give you something that'll help relax your body, that's all."

After giving him the medicine, Chopper said he was free to leave. Zoro sat up and headed towards the door. Although something inside me wanted to cheer him up, I knew giving him false hope wasn't the solution.

"He has lost a lot of weight," Chopper explained to me. "Robin, we can't leave the island until we're sure we can't do anything about it."

"Mhm," I mumbled, a bit distracted. In a way, I felt like a hypocrite. I kept trying to reassure everyone and tell them thinking about "what ifs" is pointless, and to focus on what we have to do to help Zoro. And here I was, thinking that way myself.


	3. Greed

**Hihi c:!**

**So, a fellow author who reviewed, called Yours truly-Pride suggested I put a scene of Zoro and the spirit talking. So thank you for the suggestion, **_**Jii-san**_** 8)!**

**And thank you everyone, for all the support ;w;!**

…**.**

_Zoro had never "tried" to get to sleep. If he decided he wanted to sleep, he slept. It had never given him a hard time. But this time, it was different._

_He slowly lifted Chopper off his lap and walked over to the ship's cook, then placed Chopper on top of his stomach. He then stepped over his crewmates and got to the edge of the forest. There was somewhere he had to go._

_Okay, so it took him more than a couple of hours to actually get to his destination, but that aside, there was something waiting for him at the river. He stood in front of the gently moving water and waited. A light slowly began to emerge from the ground on the other side._

_"Ah…you came?" a voice said that couldn't be recognized as a female's or a male's. It sounded like a loud whisper._

_"Ok, so you brought me all the way here for something. I don't know what you are, but I could hear that annoying voice of yours every time I closed my eyes, so here I am. What do you want?" Zoro replied._

_"You're an impatient young man," the voice said with what seemed like a giggle. "I rarely get to have the strength of brave men such as you. I'm looking forward to taking it away."_

_Zoro cocked his eyebrow and unsheathed his swords. "Why don't you quit hiding and show yourself?"_

_"Oh, but if I showed any more of myself to you, you'd go blind. I'm being considerate here," it said. "Now, why don't you come over to this side? Otherwise, things may not go well for your crewmates."_

_"What are you talking about?" Zoro demanded. His impatience was only increasing._

_"Oh my… it's getting quite annoying, repeating the story of my life to every person that comes here."_

_"WHAT are you talking about?" Zoro repeated.  
>"You see," the voice said. "Once upon a time, there used to be a village here-"<em>

_"Get to the point," Zoro interrupted. "I don't want to hear about any village. Tell me why there's a stupid barrier around the island and what you're planning to do to my crewmates."_

_"To put it simply," the voice said. "I feed on power. Just like a human feeds on animals and plants. I would wither without it. Not only I, but the island would be doomed as well. Humans possess a lot of strength, and when they set foot on the island, I place a barrier to prevent them from leaving. Once I sense the strongest of them all, I lure them to where I am and take their strength away. Many of them turn out to be cowardly and try to escape, but unfortunately for them, there's no way out once they're in unless they give me what I want."_

_"And in case you were wondering," the voice continued. "I loathe devil fruit users. All I sense when they're near is impurity, and it disgusts me. However, I have encountered a few that indeed do possess great strength, such as that straw-hat boy. But they are no exception. They automatically lose their abilities once I place the barrier, and they won't be able to get them back unless the barrier disappears. And it disappears if and only if I get what I want."_

_"The fact that you feed on people's strength is what's disgusting," Zoro said, slowly putting his katana away. "So what you're saying here is: the barrier won't disappear unless your dumb appetite is satisfied?"_

_"I wouldn't put it that way," it replied. "But indeed, you will not be able to leave and your crewmates' abilities won't return. Struggling and trying to escape will only make things harder for your and for your crewmates, young man. Of course, if you would rather me take away the strength of your other crewmates; I would be quite glad to. I believe the ones I can use are the orange haired girl and the long nosed weirdo. Their strengths combined won't equal yours, but I'm willing to do it. It would be such a shame for you to lose such strength after a-" _

_Zoro walked closer to the river and jumped in. _

_"You will not get near any of them," he said after surfacing." Take my strength if you have to, but don't even think about hurting a single one of them."_

_"You are quite the brave one," the voice said. "It will please me to have your power. Oh…and for your information: there's a very big possibility of side effects after losing your strength. Just thought I'd let you know."_

...

I walked over to the crow's nest and was about to climb up when I saw Luffy walking up the stairs ahead of me. I backed away a bit and crossed my arms, then sprouted an eye on the ceiling of the crow's nest. After all, curiosity always got to me.

Luffy walked in and closed the door after him. Zoro was sitting cross-legged, his back to the door. Luffy walked over to him, then settled down. They sat back to back. I felt that I was intruding a bit too much, so I uncrossed my arms and walked away. It was their right to have a private captain to right-hand-man talk.

"Where's Luffy?" Nami asked.

"He's with Zoro," I replied. "Is something the matter?"

Nami heaved a sigh. "We have about five days to fix this. And none of us has any idea what to do."

"I'll do my best to find out as much as possible about the island," I told her. "I'll look through the books again if I have to, and I'm planning on visiting the poneglyph again."

Nami nodded, peering up at the sky. "But not tonight. There's a really heavy rain coming."

"Food's ready!" Sanji called out from the kitchen. I motioned for Nami not to call Luffy and Zoro.

Once we settled and began to eat, Chopper had something to say.

"Guys," he said. "Zoro's body…it's…"

We waited patiently.

"Well…" he hesitated, "I gave him another checkup earlier today and it seems as though his body's getting even weaker."

We all paused. Nami's fork clattered as it hit the floor.

"What?" Nami's voice asked weakly. "How…?"

"I don't…know," Chopper admitted. "But I'm able to tell. His body's becoming even more fragile."

Although I felt the weather getting colder, I wanted to visit the poneglyph again as soon as possible. But there was something troubling me. After the incident with Zoro, we all stayed on the Sunny without leaving. If any of us set foot on the island again, would the barrier reappear? And what if only a devil fruit user got onto the island…since the spirit didn't accept their powers; would it imprison them?

Suddenly Luffy burst into the kitchen. "OI, CHOPPER! Zoro's in trouble!"

We scattered out of the kitchen and followed Luffy to the crow's nest. Once we'd all climbed up, we surrounded Zoro, who was lying on his back. His body was even limper than before and he was breathing heavily. Usually, I didn't struggle trying to stay calm, but this time it wasn't as easy.

"Luffy, what happened?!" Chopper asked, turning into his human form and picking Zoro up.

"We were talking and…he just fell over, I don't know!" Luffy freaked out.

"He's so light…" Chopper whimpered between tears as he hurried down the crow's nest. He told us not to follow him into the infirmary. Everyone paced back and forth around the deck or sat patiently until Chopper came out, looking very tired.

"It's getting worse," he told us. Normally he would have stammered a bit as he let us know, but it seemed that he was too exhausted to do that, even. "He's not doing well at all."

Silence filled the air until Luffy broke it by jumping off Sunny's head. "We have to do something."

I got off the chair I'd been sitting on. "I'm sorry, Nami, but I believe going back to the poneglyph might help us. We can't wait much longer. I think we'll be fine in the rain."

Nami hesitated but then nodded. "I'll come with you."

"No," I said. "I don't think it's a good idea for non-devil fruit users to get on the island. We don't know whether a barrier will reappear or not if we step foot on it again, so to be on the safe-side, Luffy and I should go. Since the spirit isn't interested in the likes of us, I imagine it would be safer this way."

"YOSH! LET'S GO, ROBIN!" Luffy cried out. I walked into the infirmary before we headed off and took a look at Zoro. He was sweating and kept taking very deep breaths. He seemed to be in a lot of pain. I clenched the book I was holding a bit too tightly and turned around, walking towards the door.

"Robin," I heard Zoro call out before I could open the door.

"Zoro?" I said, turning around.

"Make sure Luffy doesn't do anything stupid," he told me, closing his eyes. "I know in my state I can't do anything to stop him."

"Will do," I replied with an amused smile. "And as for you, make sure you stay alive."

"Will do," he said. I opened the door and walked out. 


	4. Onto the Island again

**Hi 8D!**

**Short chapter, sorry D;!**

**Anyway, thank you very much for all the support, it makes me very happy q q!**

**AND OH MY GOD I CAN'T WAIT TO WATCH THE RECENT EPISODES OF ONE PIECE.**

** I'MDYING.**

**ICAN'T.**

**LUFFYAND…OHMYGOD.**

**Oh and I'd like to thank my mom for helping me by editing my stories c:!  
>Anddd lastly…I forgot to answer a reviewer that's a guest so -…Gomena! Here it is:<strong>

**Zorobin: Hii C: omg well it's nice to know that it's a new idea to you! Makes it a bit more interesting, I suppose. And I'm sorry for the late reply c8…Thank youuu 8D!**

* * *

><p>"Luffy," I said before we got onto the mini-merry. "I'd like you to follow me to the poneglyph. So, it would be nice if you didn't run off."<p>

Luffy pouted to himself. "I'm supposed to be the one giving orders…"

I gave his hat, which he had on his head, a slight pat. "Trust me."

"We're counting on you," Nami said. I noticed Sanji's firm expression, and concluded, since he hadn't come with us last time, that he felt the need to this time.

"Sanji," I said, giving him a smile. "Take care of Nami for us!"

That fixed him up.

We got into mini-merry and headed towards the island. As a precaution, we'd moved Sunny away from the island. Once we got there, we tied Merry to a rock. I knew that checking whether the barrier was there or not would be pointless, since it hadn't appeared that fast the first time. I had a couple of books in my hand which I flipped through. I'd already looked through them many times before, but I felt the need to try harder. I frowned as I closed the books. Nothing…again. We made our way into the thick woods. Sure enough, as Nami had predicted, it began to rain. At first it was very light but it began to pour once we were half way to our destination.

We quickened our pace. It was very dark, and Luffy tripped a couple of times. Once we got to the river, we were completely soaked.

"We have to cross it," I told him. The log was no longer there. Luffy grabbed me by my wrist and stretched his free arm, taking hold of a tree on the other side.

"READY?" he yelled out. But before I could answer, he'd already flung himself over the river and we landed in mud. Not that I minded it very much, but I was quite thankful I had put away my books. After wiping as much of the mud off ourselves as we could, we headed towards the poneglyph.

When we finally got there, the rain had become lighter.

"How do you read that thing, Robin?! It's way too tiring to even look at it…" Luffy commented, scratching his head in bewilderment. I handed him my bag and walked closer to the rock, making sure the vines that had taken over it were completely out of the way. I reread it more than once and went around it multiple times. I was able to find out one thing: the spirit couldn't harm, control, or interact with anything that was outside the island. But it said absolutely nothing about getting your strength back. I sat down beside Luffy, who was on a rock, poking at a bug that had made its way up his arm.

"SO?!" Luffy asked excitedly. "What did you find out?"

I blinked a few times. "Nothing that's going to be of any help to us."

Luffy's face fell for a moment but then brightened. "THAT ONLY MEANS ONE THING, ROBIN!"

"Hmm?"

"WE HAVE TO FIGHT IT! KICK ASS!" he bellowed.

I wished it were that simple.

Zoro was getting weaker by the second. I didn't know why. Maybe it was because of the sudden change in his body. By the time the rain stopped coming down, I felt extremely helpless.

Luffy still looked disappointed, but I could still sense the hope he held. After crossing the river, we found good shelter under a tree and settled in for the evening.

_Gruesome things…leave…leave!_

I woke up, blinking a few times. It was still nighttime, and somehow, Luffy was now hanging from a branch, sleeping. I got up, dusting off my pants. There was some sort of voice talking to me; and I had quite a good idea who, or what it was.

I put a small note under Luffy's hat before walking towards the river. There it was, the same light that had taken Zoro's strength away, shimmering on the other side of the water.

"What on earth are two devil fruit users doing on my property, might I ask?" a voice suddenly bellowed. I do admit I was slightly taken aback. The voice sounded very dry.

"I'm aware that you're not fond of us," I said. "But I believe you took something that belongs to one of our nakama."

"Ah, the green-haired swordsman," it answered. "He gave it to me willingly. He was trying to save your lives, and you simply return, expecting me to give it back?"

"You're more than powerful enough. It's ridiculous for you to steal people's strengths. The strengths they worked on all their lives in order to fulfill their dreams."

"Uh...like I care about a human's dream?" the voice replied sarcastically. "Unless you two leave right away, I will take more than just that swordsman's _precious_ strength away."

"I can see we won't be able to fight you physically," I told it, ignoring the threat. "But we have more than just physical strength to offer. We won't be staying long, I promise you that, because we'll take what belongs to us very soon."

It chuckled. "Oh? And what will you do without your abilities?"

As soon as it said that, I felt myself become weak, just like I had last time. I concluded that it had taken my abilities away, again. I tried my best not to show how tired I'd felt.

"You can't get your hands on Zoro," I said, keeping my voice steady. "Our ship isn't touching your dear island. It is quite far off, in fact. Even though you're a powerful being, your weak point is that you're unable to harm, touch, or sense anything away from the island."

"And that's where the point of possessing more power lies," it replied. "The more I have of it, the closer I'll get to ruling not only this island, but what's outside of it as well."

I brushed a lock of hair away from my face that had flown due to the wind, then turned around.

"I wonder…if that'll happen," I said, walking away from the river.

"Indeed. We'll see." It chuckled slightly before I felt the light that had been glowing start to fade.

I walked back to Luffy, whose position hadn't changed. I reached up to get to him, since I'd lost my abilities, and took the note away. He wasn't going to need it anymore. Sitting down under the tree, I rested the back of my head against its trunk. I might not have been very intimidated by the spirit, but I did feel quite worried. There was a lack of information about it and about the island, and I had no idea how to overcome such a strange being.

"Well," I whispered to myself as I closed my eyes. "I'm definitely planning on…kicking ass, as Luffy would say."

I still had things I wanted to know involving Zoro, including a few things I wanted to say to him myself.

Perhaps someday, it will feel right to reveal those feelings of mine.

As soon as the sun came up, I was awake. But there was something missing.

And that was Luffy.

"Luffy…?" I called out, getting up and dusting off my pants. I looked around me. My hair was very untidy. Hairs were spiking up in odd places and I could feel how dry and dirty it was. However, that was at the very bottom of my worries.

"Luffy?" I called out louder.

I had promised Zoro I wouldn't let him do anything stupid, and I was going to make sure of that.

* * *

><p>Chopper walked into the infirmary, holding a tray of dry herbs. As soon as he turned on the light, it dropped onto the hard wood floor.<p>

"Z-ZORO!" he freaked out. He stared at his bedridden crewmate. As soon as he snapped out of it, he hopped over the now scattered herbs and ran to the side of the bed.

"Zoro?!" he called out, shaking him harshly. "Oi…Zoro!"

Blood was trickling down his mouth as he struggled to breathe.


	5. Determination

I hurried along, trying to find Luffy.

"DAMN IT! COME OUT AND FIGHT, YOU DUMB THING!" I heard a yell. I turned around and ran towards the river. There he was, standing in front of the water, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Luffy…" I said, heading over to him. I wasn't expecting an answer, but slowly a light began to form from the ground on the other side, just as it had when Zoro was there.

"My my, you're being noisy!" it complained. "What on earth are you doing here, young man? The disgusting scent of your rubber power is covering up the sweet smell of my island."

"OI!" Luffy shouted. "GIVE ZORO BACK HIS STRENGTH!"

"Sorry boy, that's not gonna happen," the voice replied.

"THEN COME OUT AND I'LL TAKE IT FROM YOU!"

"No can do."

Luffy swung his arm multiple times and threw a punch, but it was blocked by a barrier.

"Again?!" Luffy muttered, referring to not being able to use his abilities.

"Nuh uh uh," the voice said. "I'm not fond of angry fellows. I won't welcome you or any part of you to this side."

I gritted my teeth. "There are so many sources of power all around you," I said. "The power of storms, rains, wind, ocean, and you decide to steal the power of a human?"

"They are much more appetizing," it replied.

"Appetizing?" I repeated. "So you're telling me you _feed_ on power?"

"That's right."

I took a few steps closer to the barrier. "I don't believe you."

The spirit said nothing for a while, and all I could hear was Luffy's heavy breathing and the sound of the light breeze.

"You seem to have quite the smart mind," the spirit finally said. "But unfortunately, you cannot have your friend's strength back. It is already within the island."

"I figured," I replied. "But I believe you have the ability to give it back. You don't _feed_ on power. You simply _want_ it."

The spirit let out a very disturbing laugh. "How clever! You are quite right. But that doesn't change the fact that he will stay weak. I never give back what I take, and I don't plan on changing that."

Luffy clenched his fists more tightly. I was surprised he was being so quiet.

"Gomu Gomu no…" he whispered, jerking his head up, "GATLING GUN!"

He punched the barrier several times. Even though he couldn't use his powers, he was still able to fight. I had a hope that somehow it would break, but it didn't. The spirit's guffaw filled the island and the wind grew stronger.

"Foolish boy," it bellowed. "Get out; you're never going to have it back!"

"SHUT UP!" Luffy yelled, proceeding with his punches. "WE'RE NOT LEAVING UNTIL WE GET WHAT WE WANT!"

I stood there, watching Luffy. He finally stopped punching and caught his breath. Shrieking loudly, he banged on the barrier with his clenched fists.

"GIVE IT BACK!" he yelled. "GIVE BACK WHAT BELONGS TO ZORO!"

The laugh of the spirit only increased.

"I SAID, GIVE IT BACK!"

I walked closer to Luffy and turned my gaze to the spirit, setting my bag down.

"Give it back."

"You two are persistent," it said in an irritated tone, "but ridiculous."

Clutching my own fists, I raised them and banged against the barrier with Luffy, even though I knew there would be no way it would break. When I touched it, I felt myself grow even weaker, but I didn't move away from it.

"Give it back!" I shouted.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Luffy shrieked, banging harder. The more force he put into his banging, the harder I hit as well. Our voices were very loud and clear. I suddenly heard rustling from behind us and I stopped, looking back. Nami appeared. Behind her came the rest of the crew, minus Zoro.

"Woah…what is _that_?" Usopp asked, pointing at the light coming from the other side. Everyone turned their attention to Luffy, who hadn't stopped demanding his nakama's strength to be given back. Without further questions, the crew lined up beside him and did as he was doing.

"We were able to hear you, somehow," Nami said as she stood beside me. "Who cares about a dumb barrier? We can fight it."

"How is he?" I asked, pausing temporarily.

Nami frowned, looking down slightly. "Not…doing well."

I nodded briefly.

She turned her head towards the spirit, giving it a glare. Then, taking a deep breath, she hit the barrier with all her force. "GIVE IT BACK!"

"GIVE IT BACK!" we yelled. I could almost feel the ground beneath us starting to shake, as if the force we were putting into hitting the barrier was affecting the island. The laughter of the spirit slowly started fading away.

"What you're doing is pointless," it croaked.

We ignored it and went on. Together, we proceeded with our shouting and banging. I could feel the wind grow more powerful. I felt the air grow colder. The wind was blowing crazily, as if trying to make us stop. The spirit was silent for a long time.

"It…couldn't…" I heard it say quietly. Suddenly the spirit bellowed, causing the ground to shake even more powerfully. I was able to keep my balance along with the crew. None of us stopped our shouts.

"GIVE IT BACK!"

"BAKA!" Usopp cried out.

"YEAH, BAKA BAKA BAKA SPIRIT!" Chopper repeated.

"Shitty light!" Sanji yelled next, kicking at the barrier.

I noticed something strange happening on the other side. The light, representing the spirit, was beginning to increase. The bellowing grew louder.

"STOP!" the spirit shrieked, as if pleading for the light not to escape from the ground.

I heard a loud, harsh crack. The barrier was starting to break, as if it were made of glass. Noticing that, we all began to hit harder.

"GIVE…IT…BACK!" we ordered for the last time. The barrier shattered into pieces.

The ground shook crazily. The spirit was infuriated. "How…?!"

Luffy immediately stretched his arm to the other side, grabbing a tree. He was able to use his abilities again. Before he flung himself to the other side, I held onto his shoulders, so that I could go onto the other side as well. When we crossed the river-after bumping into trees and whatnot- we quickly hurried to the spirit. I had to squint, it was so bright. The closer we got to the spirit, the louder his screams were. We looked into the light.

I was able to see glimpses of men, women, and children practicing and training. I understood that it was showing all people's hard work. Different scenes kept changing from one to the next, until one of Zoro appeared. I could tell it was him, even though it showed a memory of his childhood. I could see tears in his eyes as he held wooden swords to practice with. Seeing this made the anger inside me increase. I could tell Luffy was feeling the same way as well, because before the glimpse of Zoro disappeared, he reached out and grabbed it, as if it were something he could touch.

I was expecting his hand to go right through it, but it didn't. He literally grabbed the orb of light that was showing Zoro.

"What are you doing?!" the spirit shrieked. Luffy clutched onto the orb of light and pulled.

"COME…ON!" he struggled, pulling with all his might. When I reached out with my own hands and grabbed it, I noticed how incredibly hot it was. I cringed but held on, pulling with Luffy.

I could see the rest of the crew shouting out to us, but I couldn't make out any words. Wild wind blew into our faces, making it difficult for us to keep holding on. I noticed the river start to splash onto the sides, its movements becoming powerful. The spirit was trying to stop us in any kind of way. It sent huge waves of water onto us, but we proceeded with our pulling. Gritting my teeth, I pulled with Luffy until the orb of light was separated from the ground. We fell back, letting go of it. Ignoring my burning hands, I frantically looked for it. It was starting to float off into the sky.

Luffy and I got up and made our way back to the other side, where the crew was.

"RUN!" Luffy yelled.

By now, the wind was blowing madly. Turning around, we ran towards the forest, leaving the spirit behind.

"Why is he so important?!" the spirit cried out.

We stopped in our tracks and looked back, then answered him all at once. "Because he's our nakama!"

"Duh…" Nami mumbled.

The bellowing of the spirit turned into a high-pitched screech, which made us cover our ears and run.

"We have to get off the island!" Nami yelled, her hands still clapped over her ears. I stopped, looking up at the sky.

"Robin, come on!" Usopp urged. The light that represented Zoro's strength, which we'd pulled out of the ground…where had it gone? Had it returned to him?

I searched the sky desperately, trying to catch a glimpse of any source of light, but with no success. I turned my focus back to running and caught up with the rest of the crew. As we finally reached the shore, I saw the light again. The orb was flying quickly towards the ship. We hurried along after it, trying to keep our balance, since the ground was shaking maniacally. Thank goodness, the barrier wasn't there. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp and I got on Mini-Merry, while the rest of the crew got into a submarine Franky had made.

We were finally off the island. And this time, it was for good. We could still feel the shaking of the island, and hear the spirit's angry cries.


	6. A Turn Of Events

**Hihi C:!**

**Amgsomuchsupportican'teven**

**Ijustcan't**

**Thank you everyone ;-;!**

**HERE WE GOOO 8D!**

* * *

><p>When we reached the Sunny and got off Mini-Merry, we hurried up to the deck. I heaved a long sigh, feeling utterly exhausted. Setting my bag down, I walked to the infirmary and opened the door. But as soon as I did so, I had to shut it again. There was a blinding light inside the room.<p>

"Robin? What's wrong?" Luffy asked anxiously. I explained briefly before trying to open it again. We all shielded our eyes and walked in. The light that we'd freed from the island had returned to Zoro. His strength. It was hovering over his limp body. Slowly, the light began to make its way back into its owner's body, then it vanished.

"Woah…" Nami whispered, walking in after us. We stood there, staring at Zoro, waiting for something to happen. As I got closer, I noticed how pale Zoro had become. I turned to Chopper.

"Have you figured out why he was getting weaker this way, Chopper?" I asked.

"Well, you see," Chopper explained. "Zoro's body went through such a sudden change, that it affected him drastically. His body wasn't able to handle the change very well, so it caused him a great deal of trouble, such as being unable to move properly, and also hurting his internal organs."

"I see," I replied, looking back at Zoro. Why wasn't his body changing back?

"Guys," Chopper began. "I'm sorry, but would it be okay if you stepped out of the infirmary for a while? I need to do a few more tests."

We nodded reluctantly and walked out. I followed Nami into the girls' quarters and opened the closet, taking out clothes.

"So…" Nami began, falling on the bed with a satisfied sigh. "In the end, it wasn't physical strength that made it possible for us to save Zoro."

I paused, a smile appearing on my lips. "Indeed. That wasn't it."

Gathering my clothes and towel, I started heading to the washroom. Once I was all cleaned up, I immediately headed to the kitchen. Sanji was already preparing food, and was happy to have my company.

"Robin-chan," he began, stirring his dish. "Did you get to see him?"

I shook my head.

"Dumb Marimo," he mumbled. "Always doing this kinda shit."

I chuckled, knowing that in fact, Sanji wished he was the one to make the sacrifice.

"DINNER!" Sanji called out from the kitchen door. Not more than a few seconds had passed when everyone piled into the kitchen, not including Zoro and Chopper. The first to begin, naturally, was Luffy. Everyone was quick to guard their share of the food. When we were nearly finished, Chopper came, not shocked that Luffy had eaten his share.

"Here," I told him, handing him the rest of my own. "I'm content."

He took it reluctantly. "Thank you, Robin!"

We waited patiently to hear what Chopper had to say. He fiddled with his hat nervously before deciding to speak.

"I don't see any improvement," he whispered.

Everyone sat silently, not quite sure how to reply to the news. I looked at Chopper and noticed he was starting to tear up. I walked over to him and put my hand on his furry cheek.

"It's okay, Chopper, you did your best," I told him. Luffy came next, and gave Chopper's tummy a poke.

"Yeah, Zoro's gonna be fine!" he reassured him. His voice was full of confidence, which made the crew a bit more relaxed. Everyone filed out of the kitchen, some heading to bed, some staying on the deck.

"I'll keep watch tonight," Nami offered. "I doubt I'll be able to sleep, anyway."

"Ok, thanks, Nami!" Luffy said as he walked to the men's' quarters, followed by Sanji and the rest of the boys.

"Mind if I accompany you?" I asked. Nami smiled, shaking her head. We made our way up to the crow's nest. It'd been a while since anyone came to the crow's nest, so the general atmosphere was cold and unwelcoming. We sat on the bench, looking out the windows, which needed to be wiped, I noticed.

"So…Robin," Nami began. "What do you think we should do?"

I closed my eyes. "I don't know, Nami."

I heard her sigh, as if she'd been expecting me to have some kind of plan or idea. I didn't mean to disappoint her, but I had no idea what we could possibly do. I've read through all the books and gone over the poneglyph many times. And I depended on Chopper with the medical knowledge.

The night was very long. Nami, near the end, had fallen asleep. Surprisingly, even though I hadn't gotten enough sleep the past couple of days, I didn't feel the need to at all. Mostly, there was something at the back of my mind bothering me constantly, so it wasn't very hard to stay awake.

Once the sun was up and Sanji was awake to make breakfast, I tiptoed down the crow's nest in order not to wake Nami up. I was heading to the infirmary when Chopper stopped me.

"Good morning, Robin," he greeted, giving me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry…but I was just about to check on him and make a few more tests. Maybe a little later in the evening you guys can see him. Okay?"

I smiled at the little doctor and nodded. "As you wish, Chopper."

Even though I said that, my patience was starting to decrease. Apparently, Luffy was also awake, and tried barging into the infirmary as well. He got kicked out. The day dragged on. At lunch, Nami announced we'd be leaving the next day.

I was about to head into the girls' quarters when Chopper dashed out of the infirmary, his face showing relief and excitement.

"Guys! Zoro!" he began, waiting for everyone to gather on the deck. "His body…it's healing! A bit slowly…but I could see the difference!"

I let out a long sigh of relief. A smile spread across my face.

"REALLY?" Luffy yelled, falling off the railing.

"Yeah! I think it just needed some time," Chopper explained.

"CAN I SEE HIM?" Luffy asked.

"No, he was just awake for a few minutes and went back to sleep," Chopper answered firmly. "He needs a lot of rest, and no disturbance."

Luffy pouted and crossed his arms. "I wanna see him…"

"Thank God," Nami said. She shook her head at Luffy. "It's for his sake, be patient!"

"Guys guys guys," Luffy said, recovering from his disappointment quite quickly. "I have an idea."

Usopp and Chopper's eyes sparkled in excitement.

"Why don't we make Zoro a party once he recovers?" he suggested. Zoro would appreciate that, I thought. I left the planning of the celebration to them. They were better than I was at that, after all.

"Sanji would cook ten times as much food! Usopp, you and Franky make fireworks…" Luffy's voice drifted off as I entered the girls' quarters. I was starting to feel very sleepy. Lying on the bed, I thought of what I could possibly do as a participation in celebrating his recovery.

By the time I woke up, it was already dinner time. Nami opened the door, telling me Zoro was awake. I got out of bed and washed up before walking to the infirmary. I heard a loud laugh coming from Luffy.

"We're taking turns," Nami explained, tilting her head at Chopper. "Doctor's orders. Luffy went in first."

"Ah," I replied. I was looking forward to seeing him.

In the end, Zoro fell asleep before the rest of us got to see him. I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

"How is he?" Usopp asked Luffy.

"Really good! He said not to worry," Luffy answered, laughing. "Our Zoro's coming back!"

"Yeah, his strength is returning, and much faster than before, too!" Chopper added, tears forming in his eyes. "His body is readjusting unexpectedly well."

"After all, Zoro-bro wouldn't be completely himself without his brawn!" Franky commented.

At last, we were getting our swordsman back.


	7. Look Who's Back

**HII 8D!**

**So earlier today, I was thinking about something I wanted Robin to say, and I realized a mistake that I'd made. If you guys recall, in the beginning of the first chapter, I tell you that this event happens before Thriller Bark, and I accidentally brought Brook in the story.**

**Sorry for the mix up D;!**

**Brook just has to squeeze in there, y'know.**

**ANYWAYYY HOPEFULLY IT'S FINE NOW! **

**Thank you for all the support guys, you've made me incredibly happy C:!**

**On to the story!**

* * *

><p>The next day, we set sail. Zoro's condition, as Chopper reported, was improving very much, which was a relief. Nami let us know that the next island we would arrive on was no more than a couple of days away.<p>

Zoro slept most of the time, and woke up only when necessary. The only person other than Chopper who got to see him was Luffy.

Surprisingly, I had almost forgotten about my hands, which had been badly burned when I grabbed the light. Once I told chopper about it, he ran into the infirmary and back, carefully applied a cool cream, and then wrapped the palms of my hands.

"Thank you, Chopper," I said, giving him a pat. He giggled before grabbing the cream and white cloth and heading over to Luffy.

"LUFFY! SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!" he shouted.

"Hopefully," Chopper announced, once the commotion of trying to apply the cream on Luffy's palms was over, "by the time we get to the next island, he'll be able to stand up and walk!"

Two days away. Almost there.

Nami and Usopp were next to visit Zoro. He had woken up to eat, so Chopper called them over. Our little doctor was such a hard worker, trying to do the best for his patients. While Chopper was away with the navigator and the sniper, I went over to the rest of the crew, who were hanging out in the kitchen, where Sanji was preparing Lunch.

"Robin-chwan!" Sanji called out once I entered. "Come in, come in!"

"Since we're planning on throwing a party to celebrate Zoro's recovery," I began after thanking Sanji, "I thought perhaps we could make a present for Chopper as well, since he's been working so hard to take care of Zoro."

Luffy jumped up, interrupting the game he was playing with Franky. "YEAH!"

"Do you have any ideas?" Franky asked.

"Well, I thought since he's such a big fan of cotton candy, we could figure out how to make some," I suggested, eyeing Sanji.

"Yeah, I can figure it out," he said, lighting a cigarette.

"Make a lot of it, Sanji!" Luffy ordered.

"Alright, alright," he said, waving off his captain. "It'd be more interesting to try to make some than to buy it at the next island."

We nodded in response.

After eating lunch, I offered to help Sanji with figuring out how to make the cotton candy. As expected from him, he said he could do it and for me to relax outside with Nami. But I was curious about how to do it, so I decided to stay.

"I've made this once before," he explained, taking out a big bag of sugar. "From what I remember, all we need is three ingredients."

Without him asking, because I knew he wouldn't, I got a jar of water out. Although I wasn't sure of the ingredients, I had a feeling water was needed. Sanji opened one of the cabinets and began to look for something. He had to reach all the way to the back to get to it, so I guessed it wasn't something he usually used in his dishes.

"Corn syrup," he said, putting it on the counter. Once we finished gathering the ingredients and covering the floor with towels, we began making it.

I looked in the cupboards for red food coloring. Luckily, Sanji always had it, in order to make us lovely pink-colored deserts. I put a drop of the food coloring into the mixture of water, corn syrup, and sugar, which was heating on the stove. It gave it a nice light pink color.

"Ohhh, Robin-chan!" Sanji swooned. "You are a natural at this!"

"Not at all," I said, smiling. "But it's quite an interesting experience."

After setting up the place for the process of giving the hot mixture a cotton-like consistency, we began dunking large whisks into it and waving them back and forth over a couple of sticks in order to make it. Now, if we had had a machine, it would've been much, much faster, but since we didn't, we had to stay in the kitchen for more than five hours, dunking and waving. And even after all that, we still didn't have a very big amount.

"Alright," I finally said, sitting back on a chair. "I think…this is enough for today."

He nodded, wiping his forehead and giving me a smile. "Good job, Robin-chwan!~"

I chuckled. "Good job, Sanji!"

Once we cleaned up the place, Sanji began making dinner. One thing after another. I thought he must've been very tired. But he seemed to enjoy making real food much more than cotton candy, so that was a relief. I walked out of the kitchen, enjoying the cool evening air. It was extremely stuffy in the kitchen, after all.

"Get some fresh air," I said to Sanji before closing the door. "You need it."

He thanked me, and with that, I left for the girls' quarters. Nami wasn't in there, so I assumed she was drawing a map of some sort.

….

Before dinner the next day, Sanji and I proceeded with the project. It took us another three to four hours to finally finish it. We made more than thirty large cones of cotton candy. That might not seem like a very big amount, but the cones were extremely big.

We were able to hide the cones we'd made the day before easily in one of the cupboards, but now that we had twice the amount, we needed a better place to put it. The door of the kitchen creaked open. Sanji and I held our breath.

"Hi," a voice came, and then Usopp appeared. I was relieved it was only him. It wouldn't have been surprising if it were Chopper, since he often came to get Zoro water for his medicine.

"Whoaaaa!" he exclaimed after seeing all the cotton candy. "That's a lot!"

"Would you mind helping us find a place to hide it, Usopp?" I asked, taking off my apron.

"Sure," he said, walking over to us. "I have a good place I can put it in the crow's nest!"

We put the cones carefully into a large, plastic bag, and then tied it well. Usopp picked up the bag and headed outside. I followed him.

As soon as he stepped out, Chopper appeared from the men's quarters. His eyes grew large.

"What is that, Usopp?" he asked, running towards us. Fortunately, the plastic bag was a shade of yellow, so it wasn't too obvious what was in the bag.

"What's what?" Usopp replied nervously.

"That thing you're holding."

"What thing?"

"The…yellow bag, Usopp," Chopper said, pointing.

"Oh, this?" Usopp said, chuckling. "It's a gift from our friend…Sogeking!"

Chopper's eyes twinkled in delight. He yelped. "Sogeking?! Really?!"

Usopp nodded confidently. "He said we can't open it until we get to the next island!"

"Wow…" Chopper mused, his head tilting to the side in a dreamy way. I chuckled at the innocence of the little doctor before making my way back to the kitchen to help clean up.

"Close call," I commented as I wiped the counter while Sanji washed the dishes.

….

"Can I pleeeasseee have just _one _cone, Sanji?!" Luffy pleaded as we sat at the dinner table. Sanji kicked his captain in the head.

"Shut up!" he yelled. Chopper looked at us innocently.

"Cone?" he repeated.

"Chopper, have I told you about that time where I killed three sea kings with my bare hands?" Usopp asked, trying to get his attention. Luckily, it worked.

The next people to visit Zoro were Sanji and Franky, who were lucky enough to be told by Chopper that Zoro was awake and feeling great. He even demanded to get out of the infirmary, but Chopper wouldn't let him. It seemed that my timing was always wrong when it came to visiting him.

The next morning, we reached the island. We could tell it was inhabited, since we saw people at the shore having picnics and whatnot.

"Alright, guys," Nami said, gathering us on the deck. "We are very low on supplies. _Very_. So, Sanji and Usopp are gonna go shopping for food. Franky, I'd like you to restock on Cola. Chopper, you stay on the ship to look out for Zoro. Luffy…you're gonna go shopping for clothes with me."

"What?!" he moaned, slumping. "Why can't Robin go with you? You're both girls! I don't find that kinda stuff fun…"

"Because Robin has something to do, remember?" Nami snapped, flashing me a smile. "Now, stop complaining, and let's go. We'll buy you meat on the way or something, just cooperate!"

I gave Luffy an apologetic look before they hopped off the ship. After they left, I got to work. We had had a talk the day before and had decided that I'd stay on the ship to get the place ready for welcoming Zoro. Since I was able to use my devil fruit ability to make the process go faster, I was chosen. I wasn't that much of an organizer, but I tried my best.

Firstly, I cut black cloth from an old sheet we'd stopped using. I placed it on the mast and with a big white pen that I borrowed from Nami, I wrote:  
><em>Welcome back!<em>

After doing that, I brought out all the sake bottles we had and placed them on the table. Usopp had made many fireworks, so I took them out as well and set them up on the railing. Next, I placed the flowers that we'd been growing all around the table, and stuck a few as decoration on the corners of the _Welcome back! _ sign.

By the time they all returned, it was late in the afternoon. Luffy was whining about how hungry he was while the rest of us finished setting up the deck. Once Sanji was finished cooking, we laid out the food on the table outside.

"Oi, Luffy, don't eat it yet!" Usopp snapped.

"Franky, did you find any Cola?" Nami asked.

"Sure did, Nami-sis!" he replied.

"So hungry…" Luffy whined. He leaned on Usopp and drooled.

"LUFFY! GET OFF ME!" Usopp raged, pushing his captain away.

"Usopp, get the cotton-candy!" Nami ordered.

"Why can't you get it…" Usopp mumbled.

"HUNGRY!" Luffy bellowed.

The door of the infirmary opened. The first to show up was Chopper, followed by the green-haired swordsman I hadn't seen for more than three days.

"Geez, you guys just won't shut up," he commented. He stood in front of the infirmary door, his arm resting on his katana, looking perfectly healed.


	8. I Finally Come Clean

**HIII C:!**

**Just wanted to reply to "Someone". I forgot to last time I updated, sorry about that D;!**

**- YEAAAAAAAH HE IS 8D! WOOOOOOO! Anyway, I'm really happy you like it c: Thank you for reviewing both last time and this time 8D!**

**ANYWAY! Thank you all very much ok, I appreciate everything you've done c:!**

**NOW. TO THE STORY!**

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><p>"ZOOOOOROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luffy cried out, leaping at his crewmate.<p>

"Oi, Luff-" Zoro began, stumbling back and falling. Everyone else quickly jumped after their captain, flattening Zoro on the ground.

"Hey! He's still healing, even though it doesn't look like it!" Chopper yelled. It was pointless.

Even though that move would've usually irritated Zoro a lot, he didn't look as annoyed as he usually would have. As soon as he saw the sake, he quickly made his way to the table.

"Ah! At last," he said, gulping down the drink.

"Not too much!" Chopper warned.

"Yeah yeah," Zoro replied, waving him off. Every time I attempted to approach him, I was interrupted. Either Nami came to say something to me, or a crew member went over to Zoro to check on him.

"Would you like tea, Robin-chan?" Sanji asked. I nodded, giving him a smile. Walking over to the railing, I sipped on the tea he'd kindly poured for me. I was lost in thought when I heard someone approaching. I could tell who it was by the gentle sound of swords clanking. When the footsteps stopped, I turned around.

Without a word, I examined Zoro. It was good to see him looking normal. Seeing him lose his strength and become helplessly fragile had slightly depressed me.

"Zoro," I said with a smile.

"You look exhausted," he blurted out. The way he said it amused me, but I could tell he was saying it out of concern, even though it didn't quite seem so.

"I'm fine," I told him. "A little sleep would fix me up."

"It doesn't look like it's sleep you're lacking," he said, looking at me quizzically.

"Oh, really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "What makes you say that?"

He cocked his own in response to my move. "You hardly sleep to begin with. And your hair looks unnaturally thin."

He had quite the way of expressing concern. Telling a woman she looked exhausted and had thin hair. Despite that, I chuckled.

"It's because of stress," he said bluntly.

"I wonder," I replied. He gave me a look of impatience, but instead of leaving, he sat against the railing. Soon after that, Sanji came skipping towards us.

"Shall I refill your cup?" he offered.

"That'd be nice, thank you," I answered. Once I handed him my cup, I noticed Zoro glancing at my hands, as if he hadn't noticed them at first.

"They're healing," I told him once Sanji left.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't think that's important," I said. "I'm just glad you're alright now."

He gave me a quick glare for not telling him._ Would this be…_I wondered…_a good time to come clean with him about what I'd been feeling?_

We heard a sudden explosion, which interrupted my thoughts. I crossed my arms and Zoro got up, grabbing his katana.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" we heard Luffy cry out. I relaxed, uncrossing my arms. It was only Usopp and Luffy setting off the fireworks.

"Woah…" Chopper exclaimed, looking up at the sky. As soon as they'd set off the entire collection of fireworks, Usopp came out with the big bag of cotton-candy.

"Chopper," he said, shoving the bag into his paws. "For you!"

"W…what?" Chopper stammered. "The present from Sogeking…is…for me?!"

Usopp nodded confidently. "Open it!"

"By…the smell…could it be…?" he began, quickly opening the plastic bag. His mouth began to water as his eyes sparkled. "IT IS!"

"Sogeking told us to tell you," Usopp began after clearing his throat, "that your hard work has paid off, so this is a special present as a reward!"

Chopper immediately began to cry as he stuffed his mouth with the cotton-candy. "I'm…so happy…right now!"

I smiled at how happy he was. Usopp was quite a professional at making up stories.

"Alright, guys," Nami said. "We're staying here for three days. While we were out, I was able to get information about the next island we're heading to. It's gonna be a bit rough from what I've been told, so make sure you relax while you can."

I made my decision that evening.

I walked towards the infirmary to return a book to Chopper. Once I opened the door, I lost my balance, since it appeared that he was on his way out.

"Oh-"

Chopper lost his nerve.

"Oi!" I heard Zoro say, seeing him reaching out to grab me.

"I'M COMING, ROBIN-CHWAN!" Sanji cried out next. He kneed Zoro in the back.

"What the-" Zoro began as he fell towards Chopper and me. Before hitting the ground, I sprouted arms to support me so that I wouldn't crush poor Chopper. I braced myself before both Zoro and Sanji fell on me. But before that could happen, Zoro had used one of his swords to hold him and Sanji up. I blinked a few times.

"What's your problem?! Zoro snapped. "GET OFF ME, YOU SHITTY COOK!"

"You could have fallen on her, Marimo!" Sanji yelled back, standing straight.

"And whose fault is that?!" Zoro asked irritably. I got up and made sure Chopper was ok. He was almost terror-stricken.

"We're all fine," I told them.

Chopper was insisting that Zoro go to sleep, but in the end Zoro won and he got to stay up and keep watch. What other time could be better than now? I thought. I made my way up the crow's nest to face him. He was looking listlessly out the window, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. When he heard the door close, he turned his head.

"Woman," he said. "Go sleep."

"Man," I teased, stopping several feet away from him. "I'd like to say something."

He furrowed his brows and turned away from the window, waiting patiently for me to speak.

Although I had decided this myself, I felt quite nervous now that I was standing in front of him. I knew there would be consequences to what I was going to say. Before going up there, I had thought of the possibility of saying nothing at all. Perhaps his living without knowing might be for the best. But I wasn't very happy with this thought, and decided to come clean. He blinked a few times, still staring at me, waiting.

"Everyone on this crew is very special nakama to me," I began. "But I think differently about each of you."

Zoro cocked his eyebrow amusedly. I smiled.

"Luffy will always have a special place in my heart. I consider him as my savior in a way," I said. Zoro nodded.

"Sanji," I continued, "makes me feel very appreciated, even though he'd give those compliments of his to almost any pretty woman he encountered."

Zoro huffed. "Idiot…"

"Usopp," I said, ignoring what he'd said, "showed how much faith he had in Luffy in Enies Lobby, which made my liking for him increase. Even though there was a problem between him and the rest of the crew at the time, he didn't leave your side."

"Franky was on Luffy's side at all times during the event in Enies Lobby. He helped me very much, even though he barely knew me, other than the fact that I was on Luffy's crew and had an enormous bounty on my head. So I'm extremely grateful for that."

"Chopper. Well," I said, smiling at the thought of him. "He is by far the cutest creature I've encountered. Aside from that, he shares my love for books, and I enjoy talking to him."

Zoro waved his hand in a way that meant _yeah, he is pretty cute_.

"Nami's the only other female on the crew. She's helped me many times and it's very comforting to know someone like her is with us."

Zoro shifted in his seat.

"And you, Zoro," I said, not knowing quite where to begin, "are the man who caused me to have feelings that I can't say I've had before."

Zoro's eyebrows furrowed in surprise, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm not sure if I can put it in words very well," I explained, "but the feelings I have for you, I know I don't have for anyone else."

I knew that it might be surprising for him to see me expressing myself this way, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I couldn't read his expression very well, which was a bit unnerving. Shockingly, he suddenly let out a laugh. A very genuine laugh. Now it was my turn to be the confused one. He looked at me.

"It's good to know I'm not alone," he told me. Once I'd heard that, I felt overwhelmed by feelings. Relief, happiness, shock. I felt so many emotions, yet I let them all out in a laugh.


	9. A Gift

**HIIII 8D!**

**So, this chapter is a bit calmer than the previous ones. I'm not sure if you can call it fluff exactly, but considering that I'm trying to keep Zoro and Robin in character as much as possible and at the same time still let them have feelings for each other, then I suppose you can consider it fluff c8.**

**Thank you for all the support, it has made me feel wonderful :-:!**

* * *

><p>That day, I stayed in the crow's nest with him. We simply sat there, keeping watch, and saying nothing. Many people may find that boring, but I enjoyed the time I spent there, even tough we didn't speak a word to one another.<p>

I waited for the rest of the crew to wake up after climbing down the crow's nest. Nami was the first to come out to the deck. When she noticed me, she came closer ad squinted.

"Huh…" she bgan, tilting her head, "you look kinda…really tired, but somehow happy."

I giggled slightly. "Good observation."

"You know, you really do need your sleep, Robin," she told me, shaking her head. She placed her right hand on her hip and smiled. "But I'm glad you seem extra happy, whatever the reason."

I nodded at me, returning the smile. "I'm glad as well, Nami."

Not long after everyone was up and having breakfast, I hopped off the ship and headed towards the town. I decided that as soon as I returned, I'd get some sleep. But for the time being, I wanted to explore the island and perhaps buy a book or two. As I walked, I noticed Luffy running towards a trolley that sold meat samples, with Usopp tagging along. The crew was all over the place.

To my disappointment, I wasn't able to find any good book shop. The one that I did find was very small and most of the books it had I'd already read. Since I had the time, I thought I might as well take a walk in the forest that surrounded the little town. The further I walked into it, the more tired I felt myself becoming. I knew that I hadn't slept in some time and needed it terribly, but instead of walking back to the ship, I settled down against a big tree and rested my head on its trunk.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I was a very light sleeper, so the possibility of me staying asleep if I dozed off was very slim. I was beginning to fall asleep when I heard someone grunting and pushing their way through the bushes.

"I take my eyes off that reindeer for one second and he gets lost…seriously," the voice grumbled. I smiled as I realized who it was.

"I have a feeling it isn't Chopper who got lost," I said. The footsteps stopped.

"What the heck do you mean by that, woman?" Zoro answered. I chuckled in reply. I heard shuffling and then a sudden plop. Concluding that he'd settled on the other side of the tree, I closed my eyes again.

I jerked my eyes open when I heard a loud cry.

"I FOUND YOU!" Chopper's voice was extremely loud. I put my hand on my head, trying to regain my focus.

"What are you two doing?" he asked, frowning at us. I blinked a few times and shook my head.

"I was simply resting," I explained, giving him a smile.

"Dammit, Chopper," Zoro said irritably. "Just when I'd finally dozed off."

"Like you ever have a problem with falling asleep!" Chopper yelled. "You had me worried!"

"Geez, I get it," Zoro replied. Chopper huffed.

"Well," he finally said, his shoulders slumping. "Since Robin's here, I'm not gonna worry whether you get lost or not. But be sure to come back to the ship soon for lunch, okay?"

"Don't worry," I reassured him. "We'll be there."

He disappeared into the forest. I got up, stretched, then walked around to the other side of the tree. I shook my head in disbelief. He'd already fallen asleep again. I crouched in front of him and smiled. His ability to doze off so quickly amused me.

He suddenly sneezed. I remembered the time he rejected my offer to give him a jacket when I first joined the crew, telling me not to stand beside him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. He looked at me drowsily with a slightly opened mouth.

"Good morning," I said with a chuckle. As if finally realizing I was crouching in front of him, his eyes widened and he jerked up.

"Dammit, don't do that!" he snapped. I raised my eyebrows.

"Do what?" I asked.

"That!" he repeated, gesturing to me randomly. I gave him a smile.

"I'm simply crouching, Zoro," I told him.

"Yeah, well, whatever," he replied, furrowing his eyebrows. It was endearing how flustered he was. Once he got up, we began our walk back to the ship. Zoro was close to going the wrong way about three to four times, but when we finally made it, the crew was getting ready to eat.

"You're late," Nami informed us, then pointed at Luffy with her thumb. "We had to keep _him_ away from the food until you showed up."

"Sorry for the trouble," I said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Where were you guys, anyway?" Usopp asked before stuffing what was on his plate into his mouth. You can never be too careful when it comes to Luffy stealing your food.

"In the forest, because _someone_ got lost," Zoro said, eyeing Chopper.

"I'm not the one who got lost! I told you to wait at the bench beside the shop until I was done buying herbs, since you dislike the smell of them. But you weren't there when I got out."

"Well it's not my fault I couldn't find the bench," Zoro replied, grabbing the last piece of bread on the table.

"Hey, I wanted that!" Luffy whined.

"You already ate five loafs, Luffy," Nami said with a sigh.

"You couldn't find the bench?" Chopper asked in disbelief. "IT WAS BESIDE THE DOOR!"

"WELL ALL OF YOU JUST SUCK AT GIVING DIRECTIONS!" Zoro yelled back, flicking the lid off a bottle of sake.

"Will you guys shut up?" Nami asked, getting impatient.

"You've got navigating issues, Zoro," Usopp pointed out.

"Say that one more time," Zoro threatened.

"Oi oi," Sanji said. "Be quiet, you're disturbing Nami-san!"

A very typical day on the Sunny.

As soon as we finished lunch, Nami grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me along with her.

"Nami, what-" I began before she jumped off the ship, with me right behind. Once we'd landed, I broke free of her grip.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Sure I am!" she answered with a smile. "I just want company while I shop."

She grabbed my wrist again, leading me into the town. I raised an eyebrow but followed her nonetheless. We entered the busy part of town, which was full of different stores and stands. She made her way through the crowd and pushed open a door to a shop.

As the door shut, I found myself confused. It wasn't the type of place Nami was usually interested in. I looked around the shop. The things that it contained looked either really old, or really new. It was filled with miscellaneous items. Nami walked to the cashier and set her elbow on the counter.

"Give us a fifty percent discount for whatever we buy," she told him. The man's jaw dropped and he shook his head.

"Yeah, right!" he replied. Nami eyed him before turning back to me.

"I'll deal with him later," she said then clasped her hands together. "I haven't worn earrings in forever, and I found this store while shopping with Luffy earlier today. I mean sure, it looks pretty shabby-"

"Excuse me?" the cashier asked.

Nami rolled her eyes. "But it sells a bunch of gold earrings! Luffy was getting too whiny, so I thought I'd wait until a time you could come with me. Mind helping me choose?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Not at all. I might use a pair as well, actually."

She led me further into the shop. We reached a counter that had all kinds of earrings, bracelets, and necklaces spread onto it. Nami immediately began scanning the earrings section.

"These look kinda cute…" she whispered to herself, grabbing hoop earrings. She held them to her ears and looked into a small mirror that was hung on the wall.

"Eh…no…" she said, putting them back.

"How about these?" I asked, showing her small, round earrings.

"Too small," she said, waving them off. "I need something big and dazzle-y!"

She ended up not needing my help, since every pair I suggested had some sort of flaw. I left her to choose on her own and walked along the long counter. Most of the bracelets were gold, but I caught one near the end of the counter that was silver. I took a closer look at it. It was thick and was carved very elegantly, but very big. I slipped it onto my wrist, and it went all the way up my arm, and even at the very end of my arm it was loose. It had a clasp to open and close it, although it seemed very unnecessary.

Despite the fact that didn't fit me, I had someone in mind that might be able to wear it. I grabbed it and walked back to Nami.

"I think I've finally decided," she said happily, then held up not one, but five pairs of gold earrings.

"I don't know if it's correct to say you were able to decide," I answered with a chuckle. She made a small pout before walking back to the cashier.

"Here," she said, placing the earrings on the counter. "Fifty percent off."

"Miss, I can't give you these for half price," he replied.

"Yes you can, see?" she said, grabbing the bracelet from my hand. Before she added it to the collection of earrings on the counter, she took a look at it.

"It's gigantic, Robin!" she commented, trying it on herself. Shrugging, she took it off and put it on the counter.

"Look here," she said to the cashier, staring at him bluntly. "I don't have all day. We're buying these for half price. That's that."

The cashier looked a bit unnerved by Nami's stare. "I…don't know…"

"GIVE US THE DAMN THINGS FOR HALF THE PRICE!" she snapped. I stood there, watching in amusement.

"Alright!" the cashier yelled back. "Don't make such a ruckus; just give me the money and leave!"

Nami smiled, pleased. After figuring out the money we had to pay, we exited the shop and made our way back to the Sunny.

"Are you really planning on wearing that thing?" Nami asked as we climbed up the rope latter that hung down the side of Sunny.

"Not really," I answered her. Before she had the chance to ask anything else, we heard a racket on the deck. Once we'd made it all the way up the ladder and onto the deck, we found that the noise was coming from a fight going on between Zoro and Sanji.

"Shut…UP!" Nami shrieked, grabbing both their heads and jamming them into each other.

"Hai, Nami-swan~" was Sanji's reply before collapsing onto the floor.

"Pathetic…" Zoro whispered after rubbing the bump that had formed on his head.

After making sure Zoro was in the men's quarters, I climbed up to the crow's nest and placed the bracelet on the bench he regularly sat on. He'd be able to wear it.


	10. Nobility

**HELLOOO C8!**

**We've come to the last chapter! It's been so much fuuunnn! I really do enjoy writing fanfics C:! I'd like to thank Yours truly-Pride for mentioning the fact that I was focusing a tad bit too much on ZoRobin. This chapter includes them all. THEY'RE ALL SO BEAUTIFUL. JUST. Q-Q!**

**And ofc, thank you everyone for all the kind and supportive reviews, and support in general! Every one of you have been totally osm c:!**

**YOSHH 8D!**

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><p>I had finally gotten enough sleep. It felt very nice to be completely refreshed and awake. After walking out of the girl's quarters, I saw Usopp bending down to look at Zoro, who was sitting cross-legged against the railing.<p>

"Where'd you get that?" Usopp asked. As I got closer, I noticed that he was wearing the bracelet I'd left him right above the black bandana he tied around his left arm, which made me smile. Soon after that, Nami appeared on the deck as well. After waking up the rest of the crew, she gathered us to tell us something.

"Tomorrow morning, we're setting off again," she announced. "If you've got anything you wanna get or do, make sure you finish with it today. Do you under-"

She paused. We stood there patiently, waiting for her to continue. I followed her gaze and found that she was staring at Zoro's arm, where the bracelet was. I could almost see her eyes light up.

"Nami? What's wrong?" Chopper asked with concern. Gradually, the rest of the crew turned their heads to see what she was staring at. Zoro stood there quietly, his arms folded in front of his chest.

"What?" he said.

"Oooo, what's that?" Luffy asked, tilting his head and pointing at Zoro's arm.

"Ah, I didn't notice that," Sanji said next, getting closer to take a look. "I didn't know you were into accessories, mosshead."

"I'm not!" he snapped.

"Of course not."

"It's so cool!" Chopper admired.

"You bought it for yourself?" Usopp asked. Nami cleared the way and stood in front of Zoro.

"Nah," she said, giving him a smirk. "It was a gift."

"From who?!" Luffy asked, interested.

"Gee, why do you guys care?" Zoro said irritably.

"Huuhhh…" Nami answered mischievously. She turned her head away from Zoro and walked back.

"Robin? Do you know?" Chopper whispered. I smiled and gave him a pat, avoiding the answer.

"It's from Robin!" Nami said before turning back and sticking her tongue out playfully.

"WHAT?!" Sanji shrieked, turning to me. "IS THAT TRUE?!"

"Hey I want one, too…" Luffy whined.

"Why? Is it his birthday?! CRAP DID I FORGET?" Usopp yelled.

"I'M SORRY, ZOROOOO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Chopper said, weeping softly at Zoro's feet.

"It's not my birthday, chill out!" Zoro told them. Perhaps I should have given it more thought before giving it to him.

"Yes, I gave it to him," I said at last. "And no, it wasn't for his birthday. I saw it in a shop while I was out with Nami and thought it suited him. That's all."

"Ohh, okay!" Chopper said with a relieved sigh.

"And I got this calendar out for nothing…" Usopp mumbled, folding it and tucking it under his arm.

"But…" Sanji whispered. "But, Robin-chan…"

"Sanji, food!" Luffy demanded.

Nami tapped her climatact on the floor to get our attention. "Why don't we play a game?"

Everyone looked at her, astonished.

"Nami, shall I check if you have a fever?" Chopper offered.

"NO, LET'S PLAY!" Luffy yelled. Nami smirked slightly.

"It'll be us against Robin," she explained. Luffy tilted his head.

"Why?" he asked.

"If she wins, we'll have to get her something. But if we win, she'll have to get gifts for each and every one of us," she said. "_Minus_ Zoro."

I blinked a few times and smiled. "Sounds like fun. What's the game?"

"Tag!" Chopper squeaked.

"Eh? Tag?" Sanji said, recovering from his devastation.

"I guess it would work…" Nami began. "But instead of actually switching between the people who tag, we'll all run away and Robin has to be able to at least tap every one of us in order to win. Oh, and of course, she's banned from using her devil fruit ability. She can't use anything but her own two hands. If she can't catch us in forty minutes, she'll lose."

"Good luck, Nico Robin!" Franky said before he followed everyone off the ship. They all stood in a line in front of the Sunny. Once Nami counted to three, I'd jump off and try to catch them.

"One…" she began, poised to take off running, "Two…Three!"

I jumped off the ship and ran. Feeling like a child, I laughed. The first I planned to run after was Chopper. He looked back at me and his eyes widened.

"WHY ME?!" he shrieked, turning into his deer form and running faster. I finally caught up with him and gave his back a tap.

"Got you," I told him with a chuckle. He whimpered and plopped on the ground. Next was Usopp, who was running very fast, actually. He didn't even bother to turn his head towards me.

"FASTER…FASTER…FASTER!" he whispered to himself, boosting his speed. "You will never be able to catch the great and powerful, Usopp-sama!"

And then he tripped over a rock and fell.

Two down, six to go. Nami demanded that Zoro play, even though I'd already given him a gift. I looked around and couldn't see any of them. Confused, I turned around and faced the sea. What I saw made me smile, even though it meant my defeat.

"Come and get us, Robin," Nami teased. They were in the ocean. Zoro had Luffy on his shoulders, and Sanji, very happily, was carrying Nami. Franky was lounging on a bright yellow floaty. Once the forty minutes we're up, they returned to the shore safely.

"Good thinking," I told Nami. She grinned, pleased.

"You gotta get that shopping done," she said to me. "Remember, we're leaving tomorrow."

So, I only had one day to go around the town and look for gifts to give them. I had to think of good ones. I changed clothes headed to the town. Deciding that I wouldn't get any of them food, and instead buy them something that could last, I turned away from the food market and into the shopping center.

It was a very, very long shopping trip, but I finally finished. I had to go to more than fifteen stores to cover all the presents. Nonetheless, I was satisfied with what I found, and was quite excited to see their reactions. It was about eight in the evening when I finally returned to the ship. Clutching the shopping bags tightly, I walked into the men's quarters and found one of Luffy's sleeveless shirts, then headed back towards the girls' quarters. After finding Nami's sewing kit, I cut the top button off his shirt and sewed another one on. Once I'd finished, I folded it and put it in one of the shopping bags.

I walked into the kitchen and was welcomed by a loud ruckus. Everyone was getting ready to eat.

"Oh! Welcome back, Robin-chan~" Sanji greeted. I thanked him and shut the door behind me. I gave my fingers a few stretches after setting down the shopping bags.

"Luffy," I called out. He turned to me and grinned. I took his shirt out of one of the bags and handed it over to him.

"Huh?" he said, confused. He unfolded it and took a look at it. I had sewed on a golden button instead of an old one. It had a crown on it. His eyes widened and he quickly changed shirts.

"SO COOL!" he cried, his eyes sparkling in delight.

"Woah!" Chopper mused.

"Like a king…" Luffy whispered, looking down at the button, which made me giggle. Next, I took out an orange colored candle. I set it on the table in front of Nami. She grabbed it and gave it a sniff.

"Tangerine…scented candle!" she whimpered, not setting down the candle. She looked at me with teary eyes. "It's wonderful!"

"Let me smell," Usopp demanded, reaching out to take it. She slapped him and held it close to her. I gave Usopp a sturdy rubber band for his slingshot, since I noticed the one he had at the time was wearing out.

He simply laughed hysterically and ran out of the kitchen to replace the band.

"Tch, rude…" Sanji mumbled.

"I found this for you, Sanji," I said, handing a container to him. He took it politely and read the label.

"Oh, my dear sweet Robin-chan!" he swooned. "How on earth did you know I needed more hair gel? This is the finest quality, too!"

"You use that stuff?" Zoro asked, peering at the label.

"Yeah, I take care of my hair, unlike you, marimo!" Sanji snapped. Chopper looked at me and blinked a few times, hoping it was his turn to receive a gift. I nodded at him and he skipped over.

"Here you are," I said, giving him a small bag. He opened it and took out a small toy robot. He gasped and pulled a string from its back.

_"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruder alert."_

Chopper's eyes widened like never before.

"THIS IS THE BEST!" he said, a hiccup escaping his throat. He clutched onto my leg and cried.

"Franky," I said, walking over to him and setting down a black bag. He grinned and opened it.

"This…this is…" he began, starting to shiver. Everyone stared at him and waited quietly.

"Nico Robin…this is…" he stuttered. He took out a brand new, red speedo.

Luffy and Chopper gasped. Franky started to cry, but denied doing so, as usual. Usopp had soon joined us again, showing off his slingshot. They all turned to me and gave me wide grins.

"Arigato, Robin!" they chimed together. I giggled and waved my hand dismissively.

"I'm happy you liked what I got!" I told them. Once that was over, we settled down to eat dinner. Zoro was being especially quiet that evening, but I didn't think too much of it. After all, I can't say he was a big talker to begin with.

As soon as the table was cleared off, Zoro cleared his throat to get our attention before we had the chance to leave the kitchen. Everyone turned their gaze to him and waited.

"Luffy, I wanna request something," he said. Luffy's face made a slight frown, noticing how serious Zoro was acting.

"What is it?" he asked. A few of us shifted in our seats before he continued.

"I'm aware that getting my strength back was no easy task," he explained. "And I know that going back wouldn't be simple, but I want to return to the island and set free the rest of the powers that the spirit took away."

Complete silence filled the room, until Luffy broke it with a loud chuckle.

"You took it right outta my mouth!" he yelled, excited.

"Are you really gonna risk your life again to do that?!" Nami cried out. "Not only Zoro, but someone else on the crew could get hurt!"

"Nami!" Luffy said. "NEXT MORNING, WE'RE GOING BACK! WE'LL FIGHT TOGETHER!"

Nami sighed in defeat, but a smile crossed her lips. I saw no point in arguing about it: it was a very brave and selfless thing to do, after all.

Well, here we go…again!

* * *

><p><strong>Yours truly-Pride: Thank you for suggesting the idea of going back to the island and fight for the other stolen strengths. It was a fab idea, Jii-neechan C:!<strong>

**Thank you everyone, and I hope you all have a fabulous osm life 8D!**

**-Dango**


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